The Contrast

The Palace was filled with a bevy of beauty, And all seeraed so joyful and wild with deliglit, Not a cloud lingered there, not a shadow nor care, But all was so pleasant, so happy and bright, Fine liveries carne with opulence laden, And silks rustled by with arrogant pride, Wealth, beauty and fashion, assumplion combined, And all the great pomp to riches allied. In amazement and wonder a self-famished form Stood trembling and shy, as though 'twere a sin , And strangely contrasted her poor tattered figure, Her desolate home with the gay scène within ; The flashes of wit, the dance and the song, The bright sparkling eyes and the clear merry shout, What cared they for want for poverty, toil, Or the suflerings ofotheis in theworld without. In pity she begged but a penny or two, And pray'd, and importun'd, and braved o'er again. But a frown of contempt was the answer she got, More bitter by far than hunger's great pain; Crushed, broken in spirit, in sorrow bowed down, Unable to stand misfortune's huge wave, Trom the cold, heartless world she turned with a sigh, And sought peace and rest in a suicide's grave.